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Eight years ago, we joined my brother's family, rafting down the rapids in Idaho. I seem to be the only one not focused on the serious job ahead. I wonder what that says about me? I do love a little river adventure and this looks so fun to me right now! Raft, canoe, kayak... it all sounds good.  Canoe Memories: Teaching rich, whiny kids to canoe at a camp in Maine... A winter canoe adventure that lead to rescue by snowmobilers... The canoe wedding gift that Don & I found in the living room. The gift from my sibs was wrapped in funny papers and decorated with paper wedding bells, dangling from the crossed paddles...
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RCA Dome in Indianapolis We've taken a lot of family portraits over the years, but the ones I like best have a story behind them. It's fun that someone who doesn't know us, could study this photo with clarinet, medals and HS band sweatshirts and figure out a story. But the picture doesn't really capture the giddiness and exhaustion of that moment, 12 years ago. The kids' HS marching band had come in 5th place out about 100 bands in the BOA Nationals competition. You have to be a band kid or parent to get that.  Family Portraits: A family reunion portrait when all 15 of us wore hats from around the world... Our family of 4, standing above Machu Picchu... Our younger, family of 4 leaving the hospital in 1989, with me in a wheelchair and newborn Scott in my arms and 2-year-old Heidi in a Cardinals teeshirt...
Thanksgiving is over and I'm ready to start thinking Christmas... but it was 80 degrees today! This photo from just over a month ago is making me yearn for just a tiny bit of snow. I'll take a dusting or just a snowflake! Last October, Don and I were hiking near Lake Tahoe when we saw this scene at sunrise. It was a treat seeing fall colors, but the sun was spotlighting the snow!  Snow Giddiness: Tallahassee schools were cancelled when we had a dusting years ago. We made grassy snowmen, using socks for mittens... Big fat flakes started up when we headed into Christmas Eve service in 2004. Snow continued and we had a white Christmas in Sugar Land, TX... As a kid, seeing snow in July at Pikes Peak seemed like magic...
About 10 years ago, I somehow talked my sister into filming our own ridiculous mocumentary. We grabbed a few props and costumes from my supplies and took on our characters with great gusto. Jenni was a sassy newswoman interviewing me, the artsy creator of the musical, "The Flowing Cup". This was a perfect example of enjoying process over product! We did film it, but had no need for an audience. It was all about the hysterical laughter that went into our afternoon of filming!  Plays & Shows... at Home: The original 1972 musical, "Flowing Cup", written with my dear friends Jenny and Janet and performed for anyone willing to watch... At age 10, I tried to organize younger neighborhood kids in productions on a stage made of crates... Young friend Debbie and I tried to put on shows, in hopes our invited parents would become best friends... I got my own kids to perform with me in videos as silly gifts and they were surprisingly game...
This photo was taken almost exactly 12 years ago in Peru. I think of all the places I have ever been, Peru has offered the most varied selection of unusual hats! I was glad these mothers were happy to pose with their children, so I could really study their hats in the photo, later.  Favorites in My Hat Collection: Beaver skin top hat... Miniature (salesman sample) safari hat... Leopard skin ladies hat from fifties... Gigantic sombrero... Gondolier style hat with many colorful ribbons...
I love the day after Thanksgiving. The cooking is done and there's usually a free day with family. Last year we wandered the French Quarter on a lovely afternoon. There was a relaxed post-holiday feel (away from stores) with lots of good music, food and excellent people watching!  Day After Memories: Hit & laugh tennis with kids... Houston Space Center with visiting friends .... Family at St. Louis Zoo... Failed attempt at 2 cars of family meeting up at St. Louis Galleria... puzzles & games at home...
Last year we were in New Orleans for Thanksgiving. This was just part of the big group, that traveled from numerous states for the big feast at my brother and sister-in-law's house. When we posed for this photo, we didn't know there would be 2 engagements by the next Thanksgiving. Congrats, Scott & Chali AND Heidi & Jamie! A lot to be thankful for.  Thanksgivings Away From Home: Panama City, FL with good family friends... Paris, with French dinner at Fouquet's... Tiny courtyard cafe in Cusco, Peru eating guinea pig and alpaca... NYC eating at the Algonquin Hotel with kids whining about lack of traditional food...
Today I'm thinking about a few past Thanksgivings with extended family in New Orleans. This photo is from 2 years ago, when we were taking our annual walk through Audubon Park, while the turkey cooked. Instead of walking off calories after the meal, we strolled and chatted and worked up an appetite for our feast!  Favorite Feast Foods: Turkey, stuffing & gravy of course... Jenni's lumpy mashed potatoes... Chris' decadent sweet potatoes... "Mom's" oyster dressing... Heidi's pumpkin pie and pistachio fluff... Scott's now favorite corn & bean casserole... Zienty's elegantly served canned cranberry jelly...
I love playing the great aunt role with my little nephews. This picture makes me smile, because Silas is getting a chance to make us laugh with "Pickles". I've used the giraffe puppet with groups of children for over 30 years. Children in Mexico and Chile, California and Iowa have helped wake him up, by singing into his sleeping bag. But Pickles usually stays on my hand. I learned long ago that sharing one puppet in big groups, is not wise. It was fun letting my nephews take over the puppetry!  Favorite Puppets: My older brother's puppet shows, using his created theatre and marionettes... The 4-foot antique knight puppet my family brought home from Sicily in 1969... A dragon shadow puppet, my in-laws brought me from China... My childhood Rumpelstiltskin puppet, with his cloth face and felt clothes... Sock puppets with button eyes and yarn hair... Pinocchio and Lamb Chop of course...
I lived in Grinnell until I was 10 years old. I took this photo when visiting two years ago. It had been 46 years since I'd seen Grinnell and I felt like I was in a dream. My brain strained to recall, as I studied familiar buildings and streets. Everything seemed a little odd and warped from how I had remembered. But seeing my old house and neighborhood brought back a flood of good memories. I feel so lucky to have lived my first 10 years in a small town.  Small Towns I Like: St. Genevieve, MO... Marta, TX... Durango, CO... Bisbee, AZ... Comfort, TX... Grass Valley, CA...
This spread of breakfast for two, just cracks me up. Two years ago, Don and I stayed at the iconic Hotel Savoy in Kansas City and breakfast was included. The hotel room was cheap and sadly neglected, but the restaurant was piece of heaven. The night before we filled out 2 forms, checking off as many dishes as we liked... at least that's what the hotel clerk recommended. In the morning we were served dishes which included, lobster, oysters, lamb and veal. Two weeks later, there was a kitchen fire and the hotel never reopened.  Memorable Breakfasts: My older brother making jelly omelets for my younger brother... A sunrise picnic with my mom and sibs, cooking eggs on the grill in a Michigan park... Numerous Easter brunches with my kids, giddy over fabulous buffets, decorated with pastel candies... Biscuits & Gravy in a crazy Florida diner, hearing stories from retired local carnival/circus folk... The smell of bacon and cantaloupe in my grandmother, Daw's cozy kitchen...
I love unexpected animal friends. I guess these two weren't exactly friends, but they tolerated each other, nicely. The chicken and cat were residents of a farm near Eminence, Missouri where we stayed a couple years ago. A few minutes after I took the photo, there was a great flurry of excitement when about 50 birds... geese, ducks, peacocks and chickens surrounded us with all their sounds. It was feeding time on the farm and they thought we had food.  Odd Animal Friends: My baby bunny who nursed from our mama cat... The llamas and family pets, at an Oklahoma farm I visited... The famous gorilla, Koko and his kitten...
I love this photo of Heidi posing with Degas' Little Dancer, in the St. Louis Art Museum. She had a lot more fun with this piece of art than Monet's water lilies. My kids were lucky to start their years in St. Louis, where museums were free and you could enjoy a short visit. Without investing in tickets, we were allowed to stop in and enjoy just enough... so everyone left happy.  Museums & Kids: Seeing my kids' enthused recognition at the Van Gogh Museum, thanks to Grandma's (Vincent themed) puzzle and book gifts... Watching kids work with other kids to build a giant foam arch at the St. Louis Science Museum... Being a fretful teacher of a large preschool group that grew wild and giddy at the sight of a mummy in a St. Louis museum... In 1969, I watched my older brother wait for the guard to turn his back, to lift my 7 year old brother (named David) so he could touch the toe of the original "David" statue in Florence.
Two years ago, Don and I watched this scene in Roatan, as the sun lowered. We watched kids earlier in the day, using the retired boat as a giant ocean toy. It seemed to be open to anyone and each kid showed a little personality when they had their turn to climb high and leap with the rope. In the evening, the sunset and pendulum movement of the kids was hypnotic. I secretly wanted a turn!  Memories of Sundown Play: Chasing lightening bugs... Capture the Flag and Hide & Seek... Looking for the first star... Sweaty kids, smelling like bug spray... The sound of cicadas and crickets changing the atmosphere... My mom's whistle, calling us home...
This is a crazy photo from before I was born. I believe my dad borrowed a little something from the costume shop at the Grinnell College theatre. I'm guessing my brother didn't know it was dad inside the suit. Mac, the boxer was trying to figure it out, too. It's hard to take your eyes off the big beast and boy, but if you do... you'll see the old pump organ behind the bear and the round table, nearby. Both sit in my house now. So many memories of family, gathered around both.  Furry Costumes of the Past: I volunteered to wear an Easter Bunny costume for a preschool celebration, but was so afraid my own child would detect my voice... Heidi at 2, shoved her way through crowds to cling to any furry costume at Disney World... I loved the English Sheepdog costume in a Peter Pan production at FSU. Our family didn't get the costume, but "Nana's" doghouse on stage, ended up being our boxer's doghouse...
In 1960, my brother took this photo of our milkman, when we lived in Florence, Italy. I was very fond of this sweet man who carried our bottles of milk in his bicycle basket, to our apartment. He also had a shop down the street, where he sold dairy products. At age 11, I loved stopping in with my siblings and picking out a frozen treat. I also loved our milkman's gentle manner. He seemed quiet and thoughtful... a relief from all the playful teasing we American bambini got from all the other shop owners. I had him sign my autograph book before we moved back home.  Milk Memories: The metal milk box on the front porch in Iowa... Spooning off the layer of cream at the top of the bottle, in Italy... Milking a cow just once and gagging after sipping a warm sample... Making milk better with Nestle's Quik...
This was taken on a hike outside of Santiago, Chile 4 years ago. Don and I were jolted by this view of the modern buildings, tucked between the flower covered fence and a range of mountains. The shiny city looked like it had literally grown up in a green valley.  City Skylines I Love: The view of St. Louis & Arch, from across the Mississippi... NYC skyline when it includes Statue of Liberty... Shanghai with the Oriental Pearl Tower... View of San Francisco from Golden Gate Bridge... I live in Houston area, but I like the contemporary skyline of Dallas better...
This photo has always cracked me up. Mom is wearing her paisley pants and nifty slide sandals, as she climbs under the hood of our old Ford Country Squire station wagon. I was 18 and probably teasing my mom about how silly she looked. But really I was learning from my mom. She was newly divorced and very determined!  Things I've Fixed: A flat tire, with my mom... My bicycle chain, many times as a young kid... An antique child's "Morris" chair, although it has since fallen apart... Many a toy with Super Glue... My dollhouse windows when a bratty 3-year-old guest punched his hand through each...
I love looking out windows, even when the view isn't as impressive as this one in Roatan, Honduras. I could pull up a chair and stare out most any window and be amused. A scene with nature is like watching a painting that moves... with wind or rain or birds. But I do love watching people activity just as much. I'm always a little envious of Jimmy Steward in "Rear Window", stuck in a cast with his binoculars and a window!  Watching from Windows: Gazing out (many different) kitchen windows, while doing dishes... Watching all the canal activity from a hotel window in Venice... Seeing sunrise from bed, through our cabin's loft windows... Watching the world go by from train and plane windows... Seeing the Mississippi River from the little windows in the St. Louis Arch...
Today I'm focused on the good news we heard a couple nights ago. Heidi "face-timed" us from the Tokyo airport, just while she and Jamie were getting ready for their 23 hours of travel back to Austin. It was Tuesday evening and I thought Heidi was calling for an update on the election. But she had good news... Heidi and Jamie were engaged! Here's the first photo I took of them. I have to laugh, that we had just met Jamie for the first time and I was already pulling out the camera! Congrats Jamie and Heidi!  Good Phone Calls: All the wonderful calls that have announced news of baby's births... Calls from the kids when they've made it safely to their destinations... Calls I answered on an old black phone from Don, when we were dating and there were no cell phones or Caller I.D... Scott's call to our hotel in Bermuda last March, to announce his engagement to Chali... A call from playwright Edward Albee in response to a letter I'd written... Birthday calls that have included singing, which always makes me laugh...
When I think of barns I think of images in children's books... red barns and cornfields. That's why I love this barn, just outside Park City, Utah. The dusting of snow on the mountains accents the snowy white barn, sitting in the colorless grass.  Barns I Remember: Sitting in the loft of an unpainted barn in MO Ozarks, owned by an 80-year-old farmer friend... Dancing with Mr. Sam in the Round Barn in Oklahoma... Barns with advertisements written on the roof... So many tidy barns on our drive through Iowa 2 falls ago... Sleeping in a reconstructed barn (B&B) in Postville, Iowa...
I need a cat picture today to make me smile. In fact I just need a cat! I also could use a cozy place like a laundry basket, where I can hang out away from the world and worries. I didn't have many worries at age 3, but I loved being in my own little space, with toys or books or a pet to love.  Cozy Spaces I Loved: A cardboard box, turned up like a boat or turned down like a house... My bed (except the years I shared with my sister) was my own space, covered with stuffed animals... My shed-turned-playhouse near the alley was the best... The canvas tent I saved up for at age 12. Dad built me a platform in wooded lot behind the house and it became my retreat...
You've got to love an Uncle Sam Doll, especially on this crazy Election Day! My sister and I each have one of these special dolls, owned by our grandmother and her sister. We both love our odd, little beardless Sams with their wrinkles and faded patriotic colors. For some reason, both our families find the dolls creepy.  The "Dolls" I Love: The Caroline Kennedy that I've had since I was a child, idolizing the president's daughter... A few troll dolls from my past... Dr. Doolittle doll with an eerie Rex Harrison face... Tiny, Liddle Kiddle Dolls, popular in 1960's...
The day before Election Tuesday, I'm choosing a photo that reminds me of what I haven't seen lately... people working together as a team. Last March, Don and I spotted these young students from a hillside. From where we watched, they looked like spiders crawling all over the ropes and masts of a tall ship, in the Bermudan harbor. We wandered down to watch them working on the sails and ropes, passing and lifting as they climbed about.  Teamwork Memories: Rock climbing and rappelling in my college years... Watching my kids in HS marching band, supporting each other to make a show come together... Don and I passed our first test of teamwork, when canoeing together 37 years ago... At age 13, I so wished for better teamwork on the first Earth Day, when our school group failed at our goal to clean out a dump... When all the various jobs of cast and crew come together on opening night of a play...
I love this picture of my sister, mom and me holding the silly mugs that Mom found on a shopping spree. They were goofy and colorful and just what we needed during our working visit to help Mom organize her house. Jennifer and I had left our own kids and households for a week of work in St. Louis, but mom made things festive!  Mom's Festive Fun in Later Years: She had a huge, stuffed moose that she decorated for various holidays... She laughed at her limp and pitiful "Miss Copeless" doll, that she would hang from shutters and door knobs... She loved wearing a knit Peruvian hat (with llamas) that Jenni gave her... She teased about her Arthur Miller Bank, which was a fat autobiography on her shelf with some cash tucked in the pages...
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